Teachers!

[MsFannySqueers]

So retired/ex teachers are being asked to consider returning to the classroom because of possible staff shortages in the New Year. Is this something you would do?

@swallowedAfly

Oh so we should take what the government offers or shut up and have nothing? Honestly you're being really bizarre. Why wouldn't people say no that's an awful idea let's do this instead?

I assumed you were against masks because you kept saying it's pensioners or nothing and ignoring the lists of suggestions people were putting forward. Glad to hear you're not. Masks in classrooms could make a real difference as they did last time for the brief spell we were allowed them.

We have to wear masks in classrooms in Scotland.

Yeah you're a complete goady arse pumper. 👋

@Hercisback

Yeah you're a complete goady arse pumper. 👋

I’m copying your sighs.

Ok well here we don't Pumper. Here, in secondary in England, pensioners are invited to come into crowded classrooms where household contacts don't have to isolate with 30 teens unmasked and mostly unvaccinated. Do you genuinely think that can do no harm? During a crisis period of a pandemic with a new more infectious variant.

I think the Scotland v England thing really makes a difference. We have zero mitigations. You are wearing masks. Of course people here are saying why not start with protecting the staff you have and you're not seeing that with the same poignancy because you do have some protections.

Are children with covid + parents and siblings at home allowed to come to school with no proof of testing there? They are here btw.

Anyway turn into a pumpkin time for me.

@swallowedAfly

Ok well here we don't Pumper. Here, in secondary in England, pensioners are invited to come into crowded classrooms where household contacts don't have to isolate with 30 teens unmasked and mostly unvaccinated. Do you genuinely think that can do no harm? During a crisis period of a pandemic with a new more infectious variant.

I think the Scotland v England thing really makes a difference. We have zero mitigations. You are wearing masks. Of course people here are saying why not start with protecting the staff you have and you're not seeing that with the same poignancy because you do have some protections.

Are children with covid + parents and siblings at home allowed to come to school with no proof of testing there? They are here btw.

Yes, they are. We’re not allowed to ask for proof.

pensioners are invited to come into crowded classrooms where household contacts don't have to isolate with 30 teens unmasked and mostly unvaccinated. Do you genuinely think that can do no harm?

Yes. I think people can judge their own level of risk. I doubt there will be many unvaccinated vulnerable 80 year olds rocking up.

@swallowedAfly

Ok well here we don't Pumper. Here, in secondary in England, pensioners are invited to come into crowded classrooms where household contacts don't have to isolate with 30 teens unmasked and mostly unvaccinated. Do you genuinely think that can do no harm? During a crisis period of a pandemic with a new more infectious variant.

I think the Scotland v England thing really makes a difference. We have zero mitigations. You are wearing masks. Of course people here are saying why not start with protecting the staff you have and you're not seeing that with the same poignancy because you do have some protections.

Are children with covid + parents and siblings at home allowed to come to school with no proof of testing there? They are here btw.

Also, what happens if you wear a mask in England? Are you forced to take it off?

[quote Liverbird77]@ChloeDecker I am not currently teaching but I hear you and I understand.

I am sorry you're having to deal with so much.

Anyone who criticises you for listing your horrendous workload isn't worth listening to.
If you need to offload a bit you've got a sympathetic ear here.

I really hope you can have some rest during this holiday.[/quote]
Thank you

Yes. I think people can judge their own level of risk. I doubt there will be many unvaccinated vulnerable 80 year olds rocking up

Being vaccinated doesn't mean you won't catch Covid.

BBC article.

Yes. I think people can judge their own level of risk. I doubt there will be many unvaccinated vulnerable 80 year olds rocking up

That’s irrelevant as risk doubles every six years or so from childhood to old age (according to David Speigelhalter) and the over 50s are at much greater risk of catching Covid than those in their twenties or thirties.
Most actual “retired” teachers will be 55+ (I’m in my late 60s and was, rather unusually, stand-up teaching, albeit in FE, until earlier this year) and therefore at risk. (They are also more likely to have conditions such as hypertension which add to their vulnerability.) Younger ex-teachers who left the profession for other reasons are, as I mentioned upthread, unlikely to want to return to teaching at all.

We’ll just have to see what January brings.

My DD currently have Covid. Yesterday, when I was talking to Test and Trace, I said I have informed their school they were now positive. Call handler responded with ‘We have advised schools to monitor emails over the holiday.’ Then he followed up with ‘Tbh, I can’t see schools going back in January with the amount of calls I’m making to school age kids and school staff’.

Please be assured that I have been quietly reading the many and varied replies to my OP. Thank you to all who understood the question I was asking and took the time to reply. So many of your comments resonate deeply with me. To @ChloeDecker who kindly asked my own opinion on retired/ex teachers returning to the classroom in the New Year to cover possible staff shortages. I can only say that @viques explains everything I feel much more eloquently than I ever could. The best post of the thread without a doubt. Wishing all teachers past and present a peaceful and Happy Christmas and a safe New Year.

@MissCruellaDeVil

We can't get supply staff in so doubt retired teachers will want to come in, the standards wouldn't be the same either, teaching moves so fast.

You may find that standards improve!